Daile Pepper and Thomas Hunter

Perth adventurer Tom Smitheringale has revealed to his support crew how close he came to perishing in an icy grave today.

The explorer has survived falling through ice into freezing water during his solo expedition to the North Pole, suffering only mild hypothermia and frostbite on some fingers.

The fact Tom had activated his EPIRB ... meant the situation was of utmost importance and should be dealt with.

He activated an emergency beacon after the fall and rescue crews dashed to retrieve him from the freezing location. The evacuation dashed his hopes of completing his historic trek.

Soon after, Smitheringale emailed his friend and supporter Jim Pizzey to let him know that he was OK.

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"Had a bad fall into the ice today and came very close to the grave," Smitheringale said.

"Activated the EPIRB and luckily the Canadians were on military ops close by and I was off in six hours.

"All's good and I'm getting the VIP rockstar treatment. Please advise everyone I'm OK and I'll be in contact soon."

Earlier Mr Pizzey confirmed Smitheringale was safe and in the hands of medical staff.

The explorer set out from Canada On February 26 in an attempt to be the first Australian, and third person ever, to ski unaided to the geographic North Pole.

But this morning he alerted his team that he was in serious trouble.

Mr Pizzey, his Perth-based supporter and friend who updated the adventurer's blog this morning, said Smitheringale had been rescued.

"After speaking with the company that does the rescues and finding that they were unable to complete the evacuation due to time constraints, I informed them that the fact Tom had activated his EPIRB instead of calling me meant the situation was of utmost importance and should be dealt with," he wrote.

"A flight of two Twin Otter fixed-wing aircraft and a helicopter were dispatched from the military base at Alert to locate Tom and bring him home.

"I have very little information at present other than that he appears to have fallen through the ice and has become hypothermic. He is currently in the back of an aircraft on his way to the medical centre at Alert. I expect him to arrive at 1200 WST."

It took about nine hours for rescuers to reach Smitheringale after the EPIRB was activated.

Supporter Georgina Walsh said the adventurer had waited "wet and without equipment, before the Canadian military came to his aid".

"We can assume he fell in the water and dragged himself out and spent the next nine hours on the ice hoping that someone was going to rescue him," she said.

"‘He told us if he set off his EPIRB it was a recovery, not a rescue, so we were all thinking the worst".

The 40-year-old personal trainer was in good health, but was suffering frostbite in his hands and one of his feet before the fall.

"The frostbite in his hands was serious but he still had feeling and was able to put up with the pain and push on," she said.

"He's also had frostbite in his foot over the last few days after going through the ice up to his hip on one leg. Apart from exhaustion, his physical condition had been pretty good."